The National Chairman of the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) Omboko Milemba was rescued from angry secondary school teachers in Homa Bay County who confronted him for supporting the Finance Bill 2023 in the National Assembly.
Milemba, who is also the Member of Parliament for Emuhaya Constituency, had attended a secondary school teachers’ sports tournament at Tom Mboya University in Homa Bay town on Sunday evening accompanied by the union’s Secretary General Akelo Misori and other Kuppet officials.
They were welcomed warmly by the teachers who seemed thrilled by the tournament but about four minutes later, the master of ceremony welcomed Milemba to give his opening remarks which were to pave the way for the final football match.
The KUPPET boss began addressing teachers but trouble began when he introduced himself saying he voted ‘yes’ for the Finance Bill.
Upon hearing the statement, a group of teachers started booing. Milemba ignored the noise and continued to explain the significance of the Finance Bill 2023 to development in the country.
His words fell on deaf ears as the teachers began accusing him of betraying them through supporting the contentious bill.
The trouble went for more than 15 minutes before Misori took to the stage to admonish the teachers of their unbecoming behaviour.
On his way out of the podium, some teachers threw various objects at him including stones.
In a bid to protect his boss, one of Milemba’s bodyguards removed two pistols, pointing at the teachers to restrain them from throwing the stones.
Misori and Yogo condemned the incident and argued that it was wrong for the teachers to be intolerant towards Milemba.
This comes at a time when President William Ruto has signed into law, the controversial Finance Bill 2023, which was passed by the National Assembly last week.
The president assented to the Bill today Monday morning at State House, Nairobi.
The Bill sailed through Parliament after a third reading by Kuria Kimani, chairman of the National Assembly Finance and National Planning Committee, and now Kenyans will have to dig deeper into their pockets to fund the government’s first budget.